Spy Mom (Original Sin & To Sin Again)

483 Pages·2011·2.15 MB·English

by  McMullen Beth

Contents
Cover
Title Page
Original Sin
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Acknowledgments
To Sin Again
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the author
Copyright

DEDICATION
For Mike
1
I know I’m not crazy. I know this because it said so in my file, which I stole out
of Director Gray’s office on a drunken dare from a guy who eventually
disappeared in Somalia. Somewhat emotionally detached, the file said, and loose
with the truth, yes, but in the eyes of the Agency, these were positive attributes.
A red star at the top of the file corresponded to a note stuck to the inside cover.
Refer to Simon? the note said. The question mark has always troubled me. They
were never sure I could cut it.
So how to explain what I’m doing right now. Gardening? Searching for a lost
contact lens? Seeing if there is a stranger crawling around under my shrubs
waiting to sneak into my house and strangle me with a length of piano wire?
It is Tuesday morning, the San Francisco sun is shining and the fog is starting
to recede back toward the ocean. It’s as regular as any other morning except that
on this morning rather than sitting at my kitchen table sipping a scalding cup of
coffee, here I am in the backyard crawling around on my knees under the juniper
trees, muttering to myself like one of the local shopping-cart pushing, bottle-
collecting loonies.
“There is no evidence here,” I whisper. I am holding tightly to a brightly
painted set of Matryoshka dolls, shaking them as if to make a point to my
invisible audience. If I were really thinking, I would have picked up the cast-iron
frying pan, still warm from this morning’s pancakes. Cast iron is generally
accepted to be a better choice of weapon than a bunch of Russian nesting dolls. I
continue to crawl forward under the scrubby trees.
“There are no tracks, no shell casings, no cigarette butts or discarded coffee
cups. You are simply having a paranoid attack that, most likely, a hit of caffeine
will alleviate. Now get up and go back in the house.” Yet from my position here
in the garden, I can’t help but notice that the palm tree in my perfectly
landscaped backyard is situated in just such a way as to allow direct spying in
through my kitchen window. Someone with skills could even figure a way into
the house from here. How could I not have noticed this?
My neighbor Tom, a British gentleman who always looks slightly past his
“use by” date, watches me from his own backyard, a curious expression on his
face.
“Problems with the trees, Lucy?” he asks as I crawl out, pulling twigs and
needles from my unwashed hair.
“Yes. Well, no, actually. I thought I heard a cat.” Oh please. “It sounded like
it was in trouble. Lost maybe?”
“No cats here,” Tom says. He looks left and then right with an exaggerated
turn of his bald head. “None that I’ve seen anyway.”
“Well, thanks for checking. Gotta go. Left a child inside unattended. You
know how that can end up.”
Tom stares at me blankly. I guess not. I start to pull the debris from my hair,
trying not to look too particularly crazed on this fine morning. And then I see it,
off to the side of the back stairs. Five years ago I would have known
immediately the height, weight, eye color, and sexual orientation of the owner of
this footprint. But today, I am not sure. Is it my husband’s footprint, the washing
machine repairman, the woman who comes to read the meter? I haven’t a clue.
But I have that sinking feeling it is not supposed to be here.
I head up the stairs throwing Tom a half-assed wave over my shoulder. I know
he is still watching me and will continue to watch me until I disappear into the
house. Sometimes I think everyone knows and that I should hang a neon sign
outside my bedroom window that says: YES, YOU ARE ALL RIGHT. THINGS ARE NOT
AS THEY APPEAR TO BE.
I have left Theo for one minute too long. Covered in applesauce, he’s trying,
with great enthusiasm, to bite the cat’s tail. The cat is howling to be let go. Theo
is howling in delight. And I swear that not ten minutes ago I heard someone
crawling around under my house. But I am not crazy. My file said as much.
Tomorrow, however, everything might change.